A St. Albert man who found himself in legal trouble after snowplowing with an ATV last winter says he'll sue authorities now that the charges against him have been stayed.
Following an incident in Jan. 2011, Dan Cooper was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of a police officer. His father Jon Cooper received a ticket for using an ATV within city limits, which is against the city's bylaws.
The pair learned of the stay earlier this week. This effectively ends the charges but the Crown can re-instate them within one year if it chooses.
Dan's lawyer Tom Engel said his client is now considering all available legal steps, such as a criminal complaint or a demand for disciplinary charges, but a lawsuit is a definite.
"He definitely will be suing," Engel said. "We are considering all the options, but he will be suing."
Three days of trial proceedings took place in February on Dan's criminal charges. That trial was expected to continue next week. Former detachment head Insp. Warren Dosko and several other officers were still scheduled to testify.
Jon's trial on the bylaw ticket would have proceeded after his son's charges were resolved.
Alberta Justice had little comment on the stay, which was done in advance of next week's appearance.
"It was the Crown's decision that it was not in the public's interest to continue the prosecution," said department spokesperson Julie Siddons in an email.
Local RCMP said once the case in their hands the crown makes all the decisions.
"Their decision on this case, really is that, it is their decision and doesn't impact the steps we have taken up to now," said St. Albert RCMP Cpl. Laurel Kading.
The RCMP conducted an internal investigation after the incident and Kading said there are no current plans to re-examine it.
"That was a very thorough investigation and it was actually done within days of the incident in 2011."
According to both sides, Jon and his son were plowing the sidewalk between his home on Bellerose Drive and a nearby seniors' residence when they got the ATV stuck. They were using a pickup truck to try to pull the quad free from the curb lane of Bellerose Drive when officers came upon the scene.
Once legal proceedings were underway, Dan was offered entry into the alternative measures program, which would have allowed him to resolve the matter without a criminal record. This is usually accomplished by performing some community service hours. He turned down the offer.
"It is important for me to stand up for the little people who can't stand up for themselves," he said.
Jon said the stay of the charges is a disappointment in some respects because it is not a complete vindication and he worries it could prevent his son from travelling.
"It stops him from going into the states now. This is a big cop-out for the police as far as I am concerned," he said.
He said he would rather have pressed the matter and have a judge rule on it despite the legal costs he's incurred.
"We would have rather gone to court and beat it. We have already spent $20,000 or $25,000," Jon said.
Dan said he is also disappointed the charges were stayed because he doesn't believe they should have ever been laid in the first place.
"The proper outcome would have been for the Crown to withdraw the charges not to stay them," he said.
Kading said police responded to the incident because of the traffic hazard.
"When we become aware of any unsafe incidents in our community we will investigate and we will take the steps to make the community safe," she said.
She said the detachment would continue to enforce the ATV bylaw, but always on a case-by-case basis.
"I know of a couple of incidents involving ATVs on that date that were handled in a different way and it really comes down to each case is assessed individually," she said.
Next steps
Dan blames the officer who arrested him for losing his cool. He argues the proper response to the stuck ATV would have been for the police to help him out.
"His actions on that day were no different than a schoolyard bully except he had taken an oath to uphold the law," he said.
Lawyer Engel said the Crown also lost focus in this case.
"I think that too often the Crown loses sight of what their proper role is in the justice system and it is not to represent the police."
